Above the Water God Temple, Yang Kai stood rigid on the Star Shuttle, seemingly bound in place, unable to move, a flash of pain crossing his face.
The onlookers' expressions changed dramatically. The Earth-Splitting Divine Bull slapped his thigh and shouted, "It's over! That kid's been hit! Quick, go save him!"
"It's too late!" Demon General Meng Ge's face was grim as he stared at the Bone Race powerhouse rapidly closing in on Yang Kai.
Moments ago, Yang Kai had used the power of his Artifact, and this Bone Race strongman—tasked with capturing him—couldn't hope to keep up. But now that Yang Kai was frozen in place, the man had already arrived at his side, a sinister smile etched on his face as he thrust out a massive hand, seizing with blinding speed toward Yang Kai's neck.
No one doubted for an instant that he could wring Yang Kai's neck clean off.
Many couldn't bear to watch the cruel scene and turned their heads away, a bitter sorrow rising in their hearts—here was someone dying before his campaign had even begun.
Just then, a faint warmth spread through the air, followed by a muffled boom. The entire sky above the Water God Temple flushed crimson as countless eerie flames materialized out of nowhere. Within those flickering clusters of fire—flames that seemed as though they could gutter out at any moment—lurked a terrifying, devastating power. They streaked downward like meteors, setting the entire island ablaze in an instant, the earth turning to scorched wasteland.
The Bone Race members' green eyes filled with dread and terror. They scrambled high into the sky to evade that scorching force.
Fire was the thing they feared most. That searing power could utterly annihilate them.
At the same time, Yang Kai—who should have been instantly subdued—bizarrely regained his freedom as though he had never been restrained at all. He flashed a grin at the Bone Race powerhouse who had approached him, and with a flicker of his figure, returned to his own side.
"You brat! You nearly gave this old man a heart attack!" Meng Wuya exclaimed with lingering fear. Though he had full confidence in Yang Kai, that last scene had been far too close for comfort.
"You ran all the way over there just to give us a thrill and scare them?" Chang Yuan glanced at Yang Kai, his expression carrying a hint of displeasure.
"Of course not." Yang Kai smiled faintly. "Just wait."
"Wait for what?" Chang Yuan couldn't help but frown, having no idea what trick he was playing.
No one understood—not even Koro, the leader of the Bone Race.
Though they had slumbered for thousands of years, they had fought the beings of this continent before, and he had never encountered such a bizarre young man.
The other's Divine Sense was in no way inferior to his own. Otherwise, there was no way he could have escaped unscathed.
What baffled Koro most was what exactly the young man was after. Flying all the way here on purpose—was it merely to show off his extraordinary Divine Sense cultivation?
Ten breaths later, a piercing scream suddenly erupted from within the Bone Race ranks. As that scream rang out, it was as if a chain reaction had been triggered—countless shrieks of agony echoed in response, rising and falling, one after another without end.
They seemed to be enduring unbearable pain. Their green eyes trembled ceaselessly, their entire bodies convulsing as they plummeted from the sky, dropping onto the island and into the sea like raindrops, sending up plumes of splashing water.
In an instant, five or six hundred of the three thousand Bone Race members had fallen.
"What's happening?!" Koro's expression changed drastically, and he barked a harsh question.
"My lord, we don't know!" a Bone Race member answered in a panic.
The Human, Demon, and Monster Race powerhouses watched wide-eyed, equally baffled, not quite grasping what was going on.
But they keenly noticed that those screaming in agony, those falling into the sea and onto the island, were all Transcendent Realm warriors—and specifically those at the lower end of that realm.
"It's a Divine Sense attack!" One of the first-level Saint Entry Realm Bone Race powerhouses, his face ashen, reported through gritted teeth while enduring the tremendous agony within his mind sea. "His Divine Sense attack contains unidentified insects that are devouring our kin's spiritual energy! Those insects are tiny and subtle—extremely hard to detect. I've been hit too!"
"Soul-Devouring Worms?" Koro's expression shifted dramatically as the name of a legendary insect—one that made all living creatures keep their distance—flashed through his mind. "How does this continent have such things?"
What was even more incomprehensible was how that young man could possibly command Soul-Devouring Worms, and moreover blend them into his Divine Sense attacks.
His voice carried ten li outward. The Human, Demon, and Monster Race powerhouses looked at Yang Kai in astonishment, each of their eyes filled with a surge of joy and disbelief.
Soul-Devouring Worms—they had all at least heard of them. They were ancient, legendary insects that specialized in devouring spiritual energy. Once afflicted by these worms, if one's strength was insufficient, death was the only outcome.
What surprised them, though, was that the Soul-Devouring Worms Yang Kai had produced seemed even more powerful than the legends suggested. According to the stories, as long as one reached the Saint Entry Realm, one could use powerful Divine Sense to destroy these insects.
Yet among the Bone Race, there were clearly Saint Entry Realm cultivators who had been hit. Though they hadn't fallen from the sky, they were visibly struggling, clearly affected by the Soul-Devouring Worms and temporarily unable to fight.
"Are the Soul-Devouring Worms they're talking about really something you produced?" Meng Wuya asked with some uncertainty.
"Mm." Yang Kai nodded. "Cultivated using my own Divine Sense."
"You yourself…" Meng Wuya's expression shifted involuntarily. He secretly admired Yang Kai's audacity—and found the whole thing utterly inconceivable.